LINARES: rebuilding after a one-round shocker. / Photo: SUMIO YAMADA
Linares -350; Juarez +280
Over 9.5 -180; under 9.5 +140
When Amir Khan suffered a shocking first round knockout loss against Breidis Prescott he picked himself up, dusted himself off, and — astutely guided by trainer Freddie Roach —came back with a series of wins to make himself one of boxing’s biggest attractions.
Jorge Linares was, like Khan, a one-round knockout victim when he lost his junior lightweight title to Juan Carlos Salgado in Tokyo last October. He, too, is attempting to pick up the pieces and show that what happened was just an accident, and he hopes to take a major step forward when he meets the tough and capable Rocky Juarez on the big PPV show in Las Vegas on Saturday.
GUERRERO and wife Casey: a load has been lifted from his mind. / Photo: SUMIO YAMADA
Guerrero -460; Casamayor +320
Over 9.5 -185; under 9.5 +155
Robert Guerrero goes into Saturday night’s 10-rounder against Joel Casamayor with a burden lifted from his mind. Guerrero has gone through a time of personal turmoil as his wife, Casey, battled leukaemia. A bone marrow transplant was successful and Casey is now cancer-free. A much-relieved Guerrero says he is now able to focus on his boxing career again.
The fight with Casamayor has been described as a junior welter contest, but I consider the boxers to be lightweights. The weights are what you would expect a lightweight to weigh for a non-title bout, with Guerrero coming in at 138 ½ pounds, Casamayor at 138. (Guerrero, though, looked the trimmer man at the scales.)
Ennis -105; Rosado -115
Over 9.5 -185; under 9.5 +155
There is an echo of the past about promoter Russell Peltz’s show in Philadelphia on Friday, when Derek Ennis defends his USBA junior middle title against Gabriel Rosado. Both boxers live in Philadelphia, and Peltz has been recalling some of the great all-Philly showdowns of yesteryear.
“In 1961, when I was 14 years old, my dad took me to the old Arena at 46th & Market Street to see Harold Johnson defend his light-heavyweight title against Von Clay,” Peltz said in a communication from his office a couple of weeks ago. “Johnson was from Manayunk and Von Clay was from West Philadelphia.
Marquez -320; Diaz +280
Over 10.5 +100; under 10.5 -120
Time was when it didn’t matter too much if a fighter lost, as long as he pleased the boxing public. This old-school way of thinking resurfaces on Saturday when Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz meet in a lightweight championship rematch on HBO PPV from the Mandalay Bay casino resort, Las Vegas. Each man lost in his last fight, but this hardly seems to matter. The people at Golden Boy Promotions take the view that the first bout between Marquez and Diaz was so dramatic and thrilling that fans will surely want to see the sequel. I think they are right. Marquez-Diaz II simply looks like being a rousing fight, and that really is all that matters.
DANNY JACOBS: impressive maturity. / Photo: Golden Boy Promotions
The last time a New York boxer took on a Russian fighter in Las Vegas it wasn’t a good night at all for the representative of the Empire State. Brooklyn was in the house, but not for very long as Zab Judah crashed out of the fight in the second round, courtesy of Kostya Tszyu’s arrow-straight right hand.
On Saturday, Brooklyn’s Danny Jacobs steps up in class to meet Russia’s formidable Dmitry Pirog for the vacant WBO middleweight title in what many regard as the most intriguing bout on HBO’s PPV show at the Mandalay Bay casino resort.
What struck me immediately was the contrast between the pre-fight approach of Judah and Jacobs. “Super” Zab was full of talk about what he was going to do to Tszyu, whereas Jacobs talks respectfully about his opponent. I much prefer the Jacobs manner of conducting himself.
Casimero -160; Hirales +130
Over 9.5 -185; under 9.5 +155
There is a fight in Mexico on Saturday that I find quite intriguing. It is a bout for the WBO’s interim junior flyweight title between Johnriel Casimero, the undefeated champion from the Philippines, and Ramon Garcia Hirales, a Mexican fighter who has lost one of 14 bouts.
Casimero looks as if he could be a bit special. Only 20, he has won 14 bouts in a row, and he scored a spectacular victory when he knocked out Cesar Canchila, the former WBA interim champion, in the 11th round in Nicaragua last December.
UZELKOV (left) weighed 172, SHUMENOV 175. / Photo: JAN SANDERS, Goossen Tutor
Shumenov -140; Uzelkov +120
Over 9.5 -160; under 9.5 +140
Eastern Europeans meet in a high-quality main event on Friday Night Fights tonight when Beibut Shumenov, from Kazakhstan but Las Vegas-based, defends his WBA light-heavy title against the mandatory challenger, Viacheslav Uzelkov, of Ukraine.
There are those who feel that Shumenov got a bit exposed when he struggled to win a much-disputed split decision over Gabriel Campillo in their rematch in Las Vegas in January, after having lost a close decision to the Spanish southpaw in Kazakhstan in August 2009.
HALL: defends British title in his home area.
Hall -220; Power +180
Over 9.5 -140; under 9.5 +120
Coming back to face the man who stopped him is a tough thing for a boxer. The fighter who won first time has the psychological advantage. In a long, tough fight, the boxer who did the stopping might think: “I got this guy out of the fight before, if I keep fighting and keep punching I can do it again.”
Yet a fighter can gain revenge over the man who stopped him. Sometimes it is a matter of learning from past mistakes. Tactics might be changed, or tweaked a little. Or, sometimes, a boxer simply trains harder for the rematch, or gets himself into a better place mentally — more focused, more determined.
BRIGGS (left) comes back from a long layoff to challenge GREEN in Aussie showdown.
Green -600; Briggs +400
Over 9.5 +120; under 9.5 -140
TUESDAY UPDATE (please see paragraphs in bold face at end of preview): Australian fans can look forward to one of that nation’s biggest fights in recent years on Wednesday when crowd-pleasing veterans Danny Green and Paul Briggs meet in a 12-round cruiserweight bout in Perth, Western Australia.
Green will be defending his IBO title in a clash of former sparmates who are said to have had wars in the gym.
Briggs, 35, hasn’t boxed for almost three and a half years but he quit the game while still a top world-class boxer and his two stirring fights with Tomasz Adamek were among the most exciting in light-heavy history.
BRADLEY weighed 147; ABREGU 146 1/2. / Photo: Carlos Baeza, Thompson Boxing.
Bradley -600; Abregu +400
Over 10.5 +100; under 10.5 -120
There are echoes of the past about Saturday’s non-title welterweight fight between junior welter champion Timothy Bradley and Luis Carlos Abregu on HBO. Once, champions routinely engaged in non-title bouts. Nowadays, every fight, it seems, has to have some sort of title or “eliminator” tag.
Bradley seeks the big fights. He would love to meet Amir Khan or Devon Alexander, rival champions at 140 pounds. It has not proved possible to bring these bouts to fruition. So Bradley is moving up seven pounds to test the welterweight waters, as it were.
ANGULO weighed 153; ALCINE 153 1/2. / Photo: CARLOS BAEZA, Thompson Boxing
Angulo -600; Alcine +400
Over 9.5 +140; under 9.5 -160
Heavy handed and always exciting, Alfredo Angulo opens the show on HBO’s Boxing After Dark on Saturday night in a 12-round junior middle title eliminator against Joachim Alcine, the former champion from Montreal.
This is a fight that should see Angulo tested, but I also think that the 27-year-old Mexican banger has the chance to look really good.
ALEXEEV, LEBEDEV: intriguing cruiserweight title eliminator. / Photo: Eroll Popova, Universum
Lebedev -125; Alexeev +115
Over 9.5 -155; under 9.5 +135
One of the most intriguing European fights of the year takes place in Germany on Saturday when southpaw cruiserweights Denis Lebedev and Alexander Alexeev meet in a championship eliminator.
Alexeev is the house fighter on the Universum show while Lebedev is in the same camp as heavyweight contender Alexander Povetkin.
Lebedev is unbeaten and has a confident, powerful look. He wrecked Enzo Maccarinelli in three rounds in Britain and busted up the durable Ali Ismailov for a six-round stoppage win. The 30-year-old who wears a Russian paratrooper blue beret into the ring is a seriously tough fighter.
